Any advice on pruning this container mango?

[nullzero]

I have an Ewais mango in a 12 gal superoots. The tree is doing very well and pushing out lots of growth as of late. The only problem is the tree is lengthy, and I dont believe it could hold many mangoes without a branch snapping.

I was thinking of trying to pug it but did not want to slow it down since all the leaves are on the ends of the branches. There are three branches with leaves on it (2 older lengthy ones and 1 newer formed one. Maybe cut off more then half of one of the branches? It has a high graft line close to 8 inch or so below where the red tag is.

Another idea I had, was to use a airlayer kit I have on the right branch. Root the tree then disconnect it from the rest of the plant. However, I don't know how well the airlayer mango would perform on its own roots.

[mangobaby]

I have a Maha Chanok that is very similar to your mango tree (too tall and 3 branches at top) . Looking forward to see some suggestions about your question.

[Pancrazio]

Well, since you are asking suggestion i guess you would want to avoid it but... this is what i have done: pruned. Hard. The sooner you do it the sooner the plant will recover from that.
I mean, once you get a nice structure you can go forth with tip pruning but till you don't have that, tip pruning doesn't help.

As you may know i have just a plant in the ground and the others in pots. So far i noticed that plants in pot are less vigorous of the one in the ground; with the plant in the ground i can see that, over the time, some buds develop in gaps in the canopy and fill them, while it doesn't apply to the plants in pots, wich tends to grow only close to terminal bud. So the best idea, to me, is to prune hard, eliminate the canopy, and redo completly the structure.

I have done that about a month ago to a kensington pride mango and i'm pretty happy with the results. If i can, i'll try to post a a picture of it later

[bsbullie]

you seem to have a high graft so this is iffy.  You could prune at the main trunk, at 12 to 18 inches or so above the graft and let it reflush and "start over".  Of course with this there are possible complications (with a high graft this could lead to more complications).

You could pug/top/tip prune each of the three existing branches however I see this having possible complications also.  It appears as if the trunk is weak. Forcing more branching on the existing branches could cause more instability than is necessary on the trunk.

You could just leave it alone for now.

In any event, I would give a better/more support to the main trunk.  Use one, or both, of the stakes and support right up against the trunk and tying with tree tape, making sure that when you stake it you "force" the trunk in a more upright/straight position.

[Tropicdude]

Good advice, just last week I was given two Alphonso, with very high graft,  very leggy . they stand about 4 feet , with just one main stem !  I really don't know how I am going to fix these,  only thing i did was tip the end so far.  I am also afraid of pugging them.

[ericalynne]

My Jean  Ellen looked a lot like that. I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to pruning, so I "pugged" one of the three main limbs at a time. I cut back hard on the first one, waited until it flushed out and then cut the next one, etc. Once I got all the three main branches cut back, I started the pinching of each new growth. The tree looks really good now.

Erica

[CoPlantNut]

I wouldn't be afraid of giving it a hard pugging; it will likely respond by pushing out a lot of healthy new growth, giving it a much better branching habit.

Here's my pickering mango 8 weeks ago, with two branches:


I pugged it at 16" high, leaving it with no branches at all.  8 weeks later I have 6 healthy branches on a nice, compact, bushy plant, all starting to push more growth again:


I've used a few wires to force the branches into being evenly spaced around the trunk; as they harden up I can take the wires off.  One of the branches is in a bad spot and will get chopped off for grafting practice shortly, leaving me with a new central leader and 4 evenly-spaced side branches.

   Kevin

[TnTrobbie]

What a cool technique. To use coated electrical wire to "shape" the angle of the new branches.
Wish I had thought about this when I pugged my Dot. The new branches drooped at first and eventually erected up but the "curve" is still there.
I like that technique.

[bsbullie]

I wouldn't be afraid of giving it a hard pugging; it will likely respond by pushing out a lot of healthy new growth, giving it a much better branching habit.

Here's my pickering mango 8 weeks ago, with two branches:


I pugged it at 16" high, leaving it with no branches at all.  8 weeks later I have 6 healthy branches on a nice, compact, bushy plant, all starting to push more growth again:


I've used a few wires to force the branches into being evenly spaced around the trunk; as they harden up I can take the wires off.  One of the branches is in a bad spot and will get chopped off for grafting practice shortly, leaving me with a new central leader and 4 evenly-spaced side branches.

   Kevin

Kevin - there is a major difference with your tree and Nulls...yours has a low graft with a more stable trunk when you pugged it.

[CoPlantNut]

Kevin - these is a major difference with your tree and Nulls...yours has a low graft with a more stable trunk when you pugged it.

I agree that the trees are different to start with...  There isn't much you can do with a high graft other than start a new plant with a lower graft.  But the spindly trunk is something that I would think pugging could help; if Null were to pug just below where his existing branches split off and remove all supports from the trunk, then carefully tip-prune new growth to encourage denser growth, I bet the trunk would thicken up and support the tree.  Removing the stakes is important because it forces the trunk to stiffen up to support whatever new growth it puts out.

I was just offering my pickering pugging experience to show how quickly and robustly a mango tree can recover from a severe pugging; PugLuvr has posted even more dramatic pictures than mine in the past.

Allowing the spindly, leggy growth to stay won't fix the floppy trunk in my experience (with non-mango trees, but still applicable I believe)...  I'm with Pan in suggesting a hard pugging!  Perhaps wait until just as buds are starting to swell on the existing growth and then use the trimmings to graft onto seedlings.  Being a bit brutal with the trimming will force the tree to be more robust though, otherwise you'll end up staking and supporting that tree for the rest of its life.

   Kevin

[kh0110]

nullzero, how about doing an approach graft? Somehow hang a rootstock with its pot near the 2 branches and approach graft them? Just a thought.

[nullzero]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I was out of town so was not able to reply. I was thinking of pugging but as bsbullie and others pointed out it may not work for this situation. Approach graft idea is really good kh0110, I have a bunch of mango seedlings going on so that may work out well.

[kh0110]

Whatever you decide to do, don't forget to record the process with pictures from the start to the success or failure of the project. I'm sure this will happen to any of us sooner or later and pictures will be extremely valuables in such cases along with detailed notes.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I was out of town so was not able to reply. I was thinking of pugging but as bsbullie and others pointed out it may not work for this situation. Approach graft idea is really good kh0110, I have a bunch of mango seedlings going on so that may work out well.

[Pancrazio]

I have done that about a month ago to a kensington pride mango and i'm pretty happy with the results. If i can, i'll try to post a a picture of it later

Those are the picture. Sorry if they are out of focus, i was in a hurry and my camera doesn't allow a good control on picture taken.
Anyhow,

This is the plant pictured from above; you can see all the three cutting point. I waited, for the cut, till the moment the bud were swelling. I wanted to be sure that the plant was healthy and with enough carbs to let it grow. 



Here you can see the grafting point. As you can see is pretty high, but it didn't give me any problem. If, in you case, bud start swelling under the graft, just pinch them away with your nails as soon as you notice them.

[nullzero]

I will be taking pictures of the process. I am currently thinking about trying to air layer one of the branches before I start the process. This way I will have the plant on its own roots, if it does not do well with the pug process.